Panty liners for panties or the like including absorbent pad and means for preventing moisture from penetrating the clothing are well known in the art.
One panty construction featuring a panty liner having various layers to absorb moisture and prevent same from penetrating through to the wearer's clothing is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,227,531. The panty of this patent features a lower section which combines an interior moisture permeable layer, an exterior moisture impermeable layer, and, sandwiched therebetween, an intermediate moisture absorbent layer.
Each of these layers forms substantially the lower half of the panty and are all stitched together along their respective edges. By sewing the respective layers together, however, the moisture impermeable layer is pierced creating seam holes through which moisture can penetrate.
Further, the lower section of the panty of U.S. Pat. No. 4,227,531 features all three layers forming the lower part of the panty. Such use of excess material is wasteful: much more moisture absorbent material and moisture impermeable material are used than required. Further, once the absorbent material is soiled the panty as a whole must be disposed of.
It is well known in the art to provide disposable combined panty and panty liner structures featuring sanitary napkins. Such combined panty and panty liner structures featuring a sanitary napkin can be found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,748,772, 3,599,638, 4,560,381, 4,743,239, and 4,940,463. All of these combined
It is a further object of this invention to provide panties or the like featuring an improved panty liner and crotch construction which comprises an interior layer of moisture permeable material adjacent the wearer's skin, an exterior layer of general panty like material adjacent the wearer's clothing, and sandwiched therebetween a layer comprised of a moisture absorbent material forming a pad suitably secured to a moisture impermeable layer to prevent moisture from penetrating through to the wearer's clothing.
It is also an object of this invention to provide an arrangement and configuration of the various materials of the panty liner so that a minimum amount of materials are required to absorb and retain moisture and yet prevent same from penetrating through to the wearer's clothing.
It is also an object of this invention to provide an improved panty liner and crotch construction for panties or the like which features a disposable moisture absorbent layer or pad separable from the panty so that once the pad is soiled the wearer can re-use the panty, after cleaning, by securing within the improved panty crotch construction a fresh pad.
It is also an object of this invention to allow efficient waste management by providing a panty liner and crotch construction for panties or the like comprising a re-usable moisture impermeable layer or panties and panty liner structures comprising a sanitary napkin must be disposed, however, once the sanitary napkin or absorbent pad has been soiled. Such disposal of the entire panty and panty liner structure is wasteful in that the moisture impermeable layer of the panty can often be re-used, upon appropriate cleaning of same.
Other patents, such as U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,460,535, 3,749,095, and 4,022,212, all feature various ways in which the pad of the panty liner can be disposed of separately from the panty once soiled.
Such panty liner structures, however, still fail to appreciate the full re-usable potential of the materials which comprise panties and panty liners, and particularly the material used in the moisture impermeable layer which prevents moisture from penetrating through to the wearer's clothing. Often, such moisture impermeable layer materials have a life expectancy far greater than the materials which make up the panty body.